Through the Looking Glass
by Elizabeth Blossom
Summary: Bellatrix finds herself in another world for a spell.


Written for **10 Characters, 10 Prompts - Challenge** and **Mirror World Challenge** at the HPFC.

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><p>Bellatrix walked slowly down the passage ways of Malfoy Manor, her gray eyes looking over everything. The current passage way she was in was filled with old amulets and medallions, cursed so long ago that the books didn't even have the spells in them. The manor was more like a museum than anything, and Bellatrix found herself hating it.<p>

It should have been her's. The Lestrange mansion had been destroyed in the first war, and that blood-traitor, piece of shit, family member that she would never dare to honor by acknowledging as family left Grimmauld Place to _Potter_. Bellatrix had no home to call hers.

She glanced over and then stopped in mid-walk. An amulet lay in a glass case, glimmering brightly. Bellatrix stared. It was beautiful. A sapphire was in the middle, gold surrounding it. Runes were engraved in the gold. The chain to wear it was gold and runes were carved on that as well. Something about it was calling Bellatrix to it. It wanted her to touch it, feel its power. How could she say no?

She picked up the glass case. It was heavy, but she needed to get to that amulet. She threw the case to the side, glass spraying everywhere, but she was past caring about everything at this point except that amulet. She needed that amulet!

Eagerly, she grabbed the amulet and for a moment, everything went dark. She was being dragged somewhere against her will, somewhere she did not want to go. She screamed. It was like Apparating, but a thousand times worse.

And then it was over.

Bellatrix found herself standing right where she had been, but the amulet was back in the glass case, the case unbroken and no glass on the ground. She looked around, her eyes wide as she tried to figure what exactly happened. What exactly the amulet did.

A noise echoed through the corridor, and Bellatrix grabbed her wand quickly. Had Potter and his gang been captured? The Dark Lord was starting to get impatient, as was Bellatrix. While he had said that Potter should not have a scratch on him, he never said anything about the Mudblood or the blood-traitor. She couldn't wait to get her hands on them.

She made her way towards the source of the noise at the end of the corridor. What she saw there, she never could have prepared herself for.

It was herself. Healthier, better rested, happier self. Her hair wasn't scraggly, her face wasn't as sharp, and gray seemed much brighter. Bellatrix was no fool, she knew that after Azkaban, most of her former beauty was gone. But the woman in front of her looked like she had never seen a _Dementor_ in her life.

But she did look just as surprised as Bellatrix, perhaps even more so since Bellatrix didn't have a wand pointed in her face unlike this other woman.

"Who are you?" she barked. "Why are you here?"

"What am _I_ doing here?" the woman responded, hands in the air and fury in her eyes. "This is my sister's house, and I highly doubt Lucius or Cissy would have very much contact with someone who looks like _you_."

Bellatrix couldn't believe what she was hearing. This woman was acting like Bellatrix was just filthy worker, not a member of two proud and ancient houses. And what she said about Lucius and Cissy, as well as the manor? This woman was clearly delusional and Bellatrix thought she should take this woman out of her misery.

"You're a liar," Bellatrix said. "And I don't know how you got here, but rest assured, I will be making sure Cissy tightens up the security around here before the Dark Lord gets here." Bellatrix pushed the woman a few steps back with her wand tip. "What's your name?" she said with a jerk of her head.

"Bellatrix Riddle, but my maiden name was Black."

Bellatrix stilled. A part of her was screaming that the woman was insane, that she needed to be punished. But another part of her was telling her that the woman was speaking the truth. She had no idea what the amulet had done and this woman looked so much like her. . . .

"Riddle?" Bellatrix asked.

The other woman-the other Bellatrix rolled her eyes and answered in an exasperated tone, "What rock have you been living under? Judging by your dress, you've been living there a long time. My husband, Tom, is a very prominent member of the ministry, which I would thought that even the likes of you would know."

"I've never heard the name Riddle."

"His father was a Muggle, yes I know, but he's very handsome and very smart and very powerful. My family wasn't thrilled, of course, but Tom managed to get them to come around, after he told them who his ancestor was of course. He's persuasive like that, and luckily Merope and Julius got that trait."

"Merope? Julius?"

"My children. Honestly, figure it out from context."

"Where's the Dark Lord?"

"The Dark Lord? We haven't had a Dark Lord since Grindelwald, though did anyone ever call him that?"

Bellatrix's head was beginning to hurt. Where had the amulet taken her? Why was the Dark Lord not here? And why was she meeting an alternate, far more talkative version of herself that had married a half-blood named Tom? Who apparently had an ancestor that would make her family overlook everything else about him?

"You will be found very soon," said the other Bellatrix, "and my husband will take care of you. Oh, I knew I shouldn't have given Julius my wand to play with, but he just looked at me with those _eyes_ and I just had to give in. He'd been pleading for weeks and-"

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix yelled. The other Bellatrix fell to the ground with a thud. Bellatrix stumbled as she took a step back and panted heavily. She stared at the unconscious woman.

She hated her. She hated this woman who was married to a man she seemed to respect at least (even if he was a half-blood), who had children, who hadn't been to Azkaban. This Bellatrix had everything she wanted and she hated her.

What had this Bellatrix one done that made her deserve what she had gotten? What did Bellatrix do that made her get what she did? All she ever been was loyal to the cause.

She turned around and headed back to the amulet, not even sparing a glance behind her.

One touch and she was heading back to a world and to a life she hated even more.


End file.
